In current radio frequency ("RF") communication systems, a controller is provided with a database that contains, for each radio unit within the system, an entry defining which sites the radio unit is permitted to affiliate with. Also, individual radio units can be programmed with affiliation rights to multiple sites. Naturally, this arrangement leads to potential conflicts between the affiliation information programmed into the controller and the corresponding affiliation information programmed into the radio units themselves. As a result, it is possible for a unit to repeatedly attempt to affiliate with a site for which the radio unit itself is programmed, but with which site the controller has not been programmed to allow the radio unit to affiliate. For example, it is not unusual for the number of affiliation requests to exceed the number of affiliations allowed by a ratio of 8 to 1. These repeated affiliation attempts are a waste of system resources in the form of a tied-up control channel, as well as wasted battery current drain of the radio units. Also, repeated failed affiliation attempts are an annoyance to system users.
The current approach for solving this problem is for the radio unit user or system manager to notice the repeated affiliation attempts and recognize that there is a programming conflict between the radio and the controller. In this case, the unit must then be physically brought to a central location for reprogramming. This solution is inadequate because the user or the system manager may not immediately recognize the problem, and also the unit must be temporarily taken out of service.
Thus, there is a need for an improved method for updating a radio affiliation database.